Rugby

Six Nations: Irish Times readers’ team of the weekend

Ireland, England and Wales dominate your selections after the second round of games

Keith Earls of Ireland is tackled by Tommaso Castello of Italy during the Six Nations match between Ireland and Italy at Aviva Stadium. Photo: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Wed Feb 14 2018 - 14:00

The results are in and your team of the weekend for the second round of Six Nations matches has been selected.

A total of five Irish players were selected ahead of the other two competitors in their positions with the rest of the team largely made up of Welsh and English players after their close battle at Twickenham.

Without further ado here is the team you selected:

Coming in at fullback we have Mike Brown of England with 43 per cent of the vote, shading that position ahead of impressive young Italian Matte Minozzi.

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On the wings it was a fairly clearcut decision with Ireland’s Keith Earls coming in at 14 and England’s Jonny May on the opposite side. May’s 54 per cent of the vote left him well ahead of Ireland’s Jacob Stockdale while Earls headed the poll for the right wing slot ahead of Teddy Thomas of France.

Onto the centre then and Ireland’s injured try scorer Robbie Henshaw takes his place on the outside with 58 per cent of the vote while Owen Farrell was the resounding choice alongside him with 77 per cent of the votes leaving him well clear of Bundee Aki.

Robbie Henshaw will miss the rest of the Six Nations after dislocating his shoulder. Photo: Tom Honan

The least surprising of all positions was always going to be the selection for outhalf with Johnny Sexton unsurprisingly romping home with 86 per cent of the vote.

At scrumhalf Conor Murray took 55 per cent of the vote but was pushed all the way by Scotland’ Greig Laidlaw who was the man of the match in their win over France and probably, on performance alone, would stake more of a claim to be included.

On to the front row then and it’s Mako Vunipola of England and Ireland’s Andrew Porter who make up the props with Vunipola only marginally coming in in front of Jack McGrath with 50 per cent of the vote.

England’s Mako Vunipola takes up the number one jersey. Photo: Hannah Mckay/Reuters

The hooker position goes to the only Frenchman in the team – Guilhelm Guirado – who garnered 42 per cent of the vote despite their loss to Scotland.

After their impressive locking performances against each other in the England and Wales clash at Twickenham, Joe Launchbury and Alun Wyn Jones make up a very impressive partnership at four and five.

The flankers were a closer call with Aaron Shingler of Wales taking 51 per cent of the vote to come in just ahead of Peter O’Mahony in the blindside while Sam Underhill of England goes alongside him with 40 per cent of the vote ahead of Dan Leavy and Josh Navidi of Wales.

Aaron Shingler of Wales makes it into this week’s team. Photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Completing the team at number eight was the closest call of all with England’s Chris Robshaw taking the spot with just two per cent more votes than Ireland’s Jack Conan.

Six Nations team of the weekend for round two, as selected by Irish Times readers:

Mike Brown (England); Keith Earls (Ireland), Robbie Henshaw (Ireland), Owen Farrell (England), Jonny May (England); Jonny Sexton (Ireland), Conor Murray (Ireland); Mako Vunipola (England), Guilhelm Guirado (France), Andrew Porter (Ireland), Joe Launchbury (England), Alun Wyn Jones (Wales), Aaron Shingler (Wales), Sam Underhill (England), Chris Robshaw (England).

Six Nations